


Someone Has To Do It

by CompassUniverse



Category: Nope- Hesitant Heroine, Original Work
Genre: And manga, Anime Main Character, F/M, Fourth Wall, Gen, Makes fun of anime, No description for the protagonist, Romance, This needs to be a thing so I'm making it a thing, Tropes, expanding, side characters, started as a one shot, tumblr post inspired
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-03
Updated: 2019-02-15
Packaged: 2019-07-06 11:36:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,982
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15885243
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CompassUniverse/pseuds/CompassUniverse
Summary: Sakura Uchi's parents always hoped to have a main character for a daughter. When that didn't work out, they moved next door to a family with an up-and-coming main character who hadn't decided her genre yet. Sakura was more or less forced to be her friend, but when they got into high school, Sakura did her best to distance herself from Mika. No matter what, she was a side character.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I know Nope- Hesitant Heroine isn't actually a thing that ended up happening, but it seemed like a good fandom tag for anyone who saw the thing and wanted to read it. But, anyway, here's the inspiring link http://secondlina.tumblr.com/post/124851077105/character-designs-for-nope-hesitant-heroine  
> Some of the characters on that I'll use, others will be mine. Kudos to the creator of it.

"Sakura." Mika stared flatly at her friend. "Switch seats with me."

Sakura considered banging her head on the table. She considered getting hair dye. She considered fleeing the country. Of  _course_ she was in Mika's class. Everyone was whispering about the main character being in the class. Instead, she smiled and said, "Sure, Mika. You got the corner?"

Mika nodded and Sakura handed her the paper for the seat that was precisely in the center of the room, perfect for a supporting side character. She walked over to the window seat in the corner and hung her bag off the back, looking straight ahead. It was going to be a long year.

(The teacher did a double take when she walked in. Sakura was forced to either stare at her desk or stare out the window to avoid the teacher's questioning looks.)

* * *

The second month of school, the teacher walked in and announced, "Good morning, class! We have a new transfer student from Kyoto! Make sure you're friendly to him!" She glanced at Sakura, the open seat conveniently next to her, then hastily corrected and focused on Mika. The whole class watched as the new student walked in. Sakura put her head down.

"Hello! I'm Haruto Asashi," he said, voice softening toward the end, probably as he noticed Mika. The class chorused a greeting.

"You can sit next to Miss Uchi," the teacher said. A pause. "Over by the window."

Sakura raised her hand without raising her head. After a moment, the chair scraped its way out. She listened to Haruto get settled, then sat up and looked over. He was wearing the school uniform, but his shirt wasn't tucked in. His hair was fluffy and black and there was a long scar on his jaw. Definitely a potential love interest. He was staring at Mika, so he probably knew it.

He turned suddenly to look at Sakura. "Hi, I guess I'll be your neighbor." He smiled and Sakura felt heat rise to her face.

Fuck.

* * *

"So, she just ignores them?" Haruto asked, walking along beside Sakura as they headed for his host family.

"Pretty much. She wants to pick her own genre, and I guess she isn't interested in any so far."

"But she's in high school. Isn't she worried that she'll grow up to be a dead mom?"

Sakura shrugged. "She probably just won't wear her hair like that."

"Senpai!"

Sakura grabbed Haruto by the back of his shirt and yanked him back behind the wall. He blinked at her, wide eyed and baffled and far too cute for a side character like her. She averted her eyes. "She's getting a confession."

"I love you, senpai, and I just want-"

"I love food."

A pause. "But, but senpai..."

Silence.

Haruto leaned around Sakura to look. "She's gone. And the girl that was confessing to her is crying."

Sakura sighed and stepped out, walking over to the underclassman. "It's okay," she said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "She's just not interested in romance."

The girl looked at her, sniffling and hiccuping. "Really? It's not about me?"

"Nope," Sakura sighed. "She's just like that."

The girl sniffed again. "Senpai, I think I love _you_."

Sakura blinked. What. She looked at Haruto for help, but he was doubled over in silent laughter. "Uh."

"I love you, senpai! Will you love me back?"

"Uh." She flapped a hand behind her, connecting with Haruto's arm.

The transfer snorted once and straightened, then, in a deep voice, said, "She can't love you, we're in a relationship. I'm very sorry." One arm went around Sakura's shoulders and she squeaked as he pulled her close.

The girl gasped,  _oh god the drama_ , and ran away, tears sparkling down her face.

Haruto immediately released Sakura. "Sorry about that," he said with a grin. "I'll bet that was one of the potential plots, you know. Fake relationships where real love blooms are all the rage." He paused, but Sakura just stared at him. "Hey? Sakura? You okay?"

"Don't. Don't do that again." She turned and strode after Mika.

Haruto chased after, hands tucked in his pockets. Sakura was sure that if she'd been the main character he would have grabbed her by the arm and turned her around and there would have been musical notes and flowers suddenly appearing against a fake backdrop. Instead, he caught up like a normal person and said, "Hey, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you. We cool?"

Sakura glanced at him and his stupid, cute, hopeful face, then sighed. "Yeah. We're cool."

He grinned, the scar on his chin softening, and they continued the walk toward home in comfortable silence.

* * *

The duo looked up at Mika, perched on a telephone pole. She had stopped talking to Sakura after Sakura became friends with Haruto because she didn't want to get involved in any love triangles. Sakura wasn't sure if she meant a love triangle where Haruto might love one of them, or if Mika thought that Sakura loved both of them. That was definitely not the case; Sakura only loved one of them, and it was the one who would be leaving in a few months.

"She just...does that. Why doesn't she join a sports team?"

"She doesn't want to be in a sports genre. Thinks they're too dramatic."

"That's not dramatic?"

Sakura shrugged. Above them, Mika turned and studied something. She hastily jumped away.

"What was that?"

Sakura sighed, climbing to her feet. "Probably some plot point. I'm going to make sure it's smoothed over."

"I'll come." Haruto grabbed his bag and hopped to his feet. "Why do you always do that?"

"Do what?"

"Go fix the plot. You don't have to."

The side character let out a long breath. "Well. Someone has to. And what if someone died? Mika won't give stray kittens food because that can lead to romance."

"What?" Haruto gasped. "That's awful! She could kill them and just because she doesn't want to be in that genre? Most plots have romance no matter what!"

Sakura shrugged. "It's how she is." She paused, studying the forest they had reached. That wasn't usually there. "It's probably a magic girl thing or a prince thing," she predicted.

Haruto crouched and picked up a sword that Sakura hadn't noticed. "I think it's probably a prince."

"Ugh." Sakura took the sword when he offered it. "Those are the worst. We met one when we were kids and he followed her around asking her to make a childhood promise about undying love." She paused. "I hope it's not the same guy."

"How did you get him to go away?" Haruto asked, amusement sparking in his eyes.

"I asked him what my name was and then got upset when he didn't know it, then Mika got upset because I was upset. It was back when she cared."

Haruto didn't laugh. If anything, he looked pained. They continued in silence for a moment. "Sakura."

"Yeah?"

"I know your name. I care."

She blinked at him. Tried to ignore the heat in her face. "Come on, Haruto. We have a prince to find."

If she had looked back, she would have seen the fond smile, the faint blush, but she didn't.

* * *

 

Haruto wouldn't stop laughing. If he didn't have such a nice laugh, Sakura would probably hit him. The prince was another main character, his hair bright blue and a heart in matching blue on his shirt. His name was Hideo Fuuki and he couldn't return to his kingdom in a parallel reality without a fellow main character because they needed a main character for a child in order to fulfill a prophecy. How that ended up with Sakura sitting next to a transfer student and behind a prince escaped her.

She looked at the ceiling. The ceiling didn't help.

"Is that a giant robot?" someone said, and several heads snapped around to stare at Mika.

"Impossible," Mika deadpanned.

Sakura looked out the window. There was indeed a giant robot. Big enough to be seen even though it was a few cities away.

"Hey, Hideo," she said. "Whoever beats that is probably a main character. Why don't you go look?"

Hideo peered out the window, leaning on her desk and making her lean back to do so. Haruto giggled. "Excellent idea, Lady Sakura! I must go!" He jumped out the window, drew his sword from somewhere impossible in his clothes, and ran off.

Haruto looked smugly at Sakura. "You just sent him to kill the robot."

"What, no."

"You're devious."

She stuck her tongue out at him.

* * *

 

"Stop! Stop, I can't breathe!" Haruto gasped. "I can't..."

Hideo glowered miserably at them, the fancy Magic Girl dress significantly reducing the glare's effect.

"So," Sakura said slowly. "You saw Mika throw something, so you caught it."

"I didn't know it would do this!"

She sighed. "Well. Congratulations. You're a Magic Girl."

Hideo dropped to his knees and wailed, "No!" 

Ah, the dramatics.

* * *

Sakura, Hideo, and Haruto sat beside the purple haired demon girl. Hideo was giving her a look that meant he was going to ask for her babies, but at least he was waiting until after she coughed up whatever it was that Mika had sprayed her monster form with. Sakura patted her on the shoulder and sighed.

Well, at least Mika wouldn't be a demon hunter or anything like that. Those one usually wound up dead.

* * *

"Madame Adviser."

"Stop."

"I have a very important issue that needs advising."

"Haruto, I swear."

"What is," he paused dramatically and Sakura could swear she saw flowers bloom, "two plus two?"

She threw the calculus book at him. If Hideo had been there, instead of back in his kingdom with Chimi, she would have hit him for making her an adviser, too. Her phone dinged and she pulled it out, scanning the message.

"Hey, my parents are going away for a week. Mind if I stayed with your host family?"

"Afraid to stay home alone?"

Sakura shot him a look and showed him the message.

_Hiiiiii Honeyyyyy! We're going to the Nin-Con, so why don't you stay at Mika-chan's house?  We're getting the locks fixed, so you won't be able to get in!! Love you!!!_

Haruto smirked. "Yeah, they won't have a problem with it."

* * *

Mika dodged the falling underclassman and he hit the dirt, the hand aiming for Mika's breasts still outstretched and twitching. Haruto and Sakura exchanged an annoyed look at that particular attempt at a plot line and walked by without any sympathy for the fallen wannabe.

* * *

 Sakura sighed, leaning back in the sand to try to soak up as much of the sunlight as possible. Haruto was playing volleyball and the frame kept freezing with flowers and sparkles around his shirtless form even though Mika wasn't even on the field trip. He'd gotten her a floppy sunhat so that she wouldn't burn and ran off calling, "Tell me how I look!"

She wished that it would be easier to remember she was just a side character.

Mika hadn't come because there might be a tsunami, or a mermaid, or any number of things. Sakura was starting to think that she just liked staying home. Maybe her plot was supposed to be about a neet all along.

Haruto thudded into the sand next to Sakura, dripping wet. He must have taken a dip in the ocean before he came back. "So? How'd I do? Were you cheering for me?"

"You were great, but it was kind of hard to keep track of the game with the way it kept freezing."

He laughed. "Yep! That's why they kicked me out!" He sighed, rolling in the sand. "You should go for a swim."

"Maybe later."

"Come on," Haruto hummed, rolling back toward her. "It's nice and cool."

Sakura looked down at him, covered in sand and beaming hopefully, then huffed out a sigh. "Alright, alright." She paused, shifting her feet under herself. "Race you." She launched herself off the ground, kicking up sand and running for the water.

"Wh-Cheater!" Haruto scrambled to pursue her, laughing loudly, and the frame froze around both of them, roses blooming at the base.

When it unfroze, Sakura stumbled and fell. She caught herself with her hands and stared around, wide eyes meeting the astonished looks of her classmates. She twisted to look at Haruto, who was standing where he'd been frozen and gaping at her. He took a step toward her and Sakura flinched back, one hand slipping in the sand so that she fell back. By the time she had pushed herself up again, Haruto was gone.

She wasn't given a chance to look for him, though, because suddenly her classmates were swarming her, chattering and gasping and all of them repeating, "You're the love interest of a transfer student! What a great plot!"

* * *

"Hey," Haruto said softly, sitting down beside her.

"Hey," Sakura echoed. She waited a moment, but neither one of them could think of anything to say. So, she fell back on what she knew. "They're electing Student Council today and Mika's name is in the votes, even though she never signed up. The teachers say it's a computer error."

Haruto didn't answer. Sakura chanced a look at him and grimaced when she saw the shadows under his eyes. They fell into silence again.

It wasn't until the class had started and then ended that Haruto said, "We should talk about that."

Sakura wanted to refuse, but she knew the tropes. If she acted like everything was normal, he'd act like everything was normal, and then they'd both think the other didn't care. And maybe one of them would be right. They needed to talk. "Okay."

They walked together to the glade where they'd met Hideo; the trees hadn't vanished because it wasn't a main character that found him. Neither one of them seemed to know where to start, which was a given when none of the plots had conversations that addressed real topics until quite a bit of angst, and by then there was yelling and crying and usually it was raining. Sakura looked up. It was sunny.

"I would stay for you," Haruto said finally. "I would get a job and get an apartment of my own and I would stay for you."

Sakura hugged her arms to her body. "I'm a side character," she said slowly. "And Mika, no, _I_ made the decisions that would be made by a main character. And a main character is supposed to be the love interest for the transfer student, not some side character that doesn't even really get a description. But I'm here, and I'm making the decision of a main character, and I, I want you to stay."

Haruto smiled, slow and soft in the way that curled his scar. "Then I'll stay."

* * *

Sakura and Haruto stared down at the baby. Hideo and Chimi were practically bouncing in place, clinging to each other. Their toddler peered at the baby, his shock of green hair indicating a perfect main character.

"Congratulations! She's a main character!" the nurse said to Sakura, and Haruto grabbed onto the railing of the bed to remain standing as he started to laugh.

"Hideo," Sakura said slowly, gazing at her daughter. "Is that invitation to move into your castle still open?"

Hideo let out a gleeful squeal. "Always!"

"And don't worry, Sakura," Chimi added. "I learned all the dead mom tropes and we're going to live to see everything they'll do."

Sakura nodded. "Yeah. We are," she murmured.

 

 


	2. Childhood

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I'm gonna leave this as completed because 1: no one is reading it anyway and who knows when I'll update and 2: I'm mainly writing it to try to get writers block to go away. This probably won't be in order because, again, it's to get writers block to go away.

Sakura watched from just beside the car as her parents carried boxes out of the car. They had patted her on the head and told her to go find friends, but that would mean leaving the safety of the yard and Sakura wasn't especially willing to do that. Her mother passed by again and paused, frowning.

"Sakura," she crooned, "why don't you go see if there are any other little boys or girls around?"

"I want to help move," Sakura replied, even though she didn't any more than she had wanted to move in the first place. It wasn't up to her, though, and her parents had already enrolled her in the kindergarten class nearby.

Sakura's mother sighed. "Go find friends, honey. I bet the neighbors have little kids. Why don't you go knock on that door?" She pointed. As if the point had rung a doorbell, the door opened and a girl stepped out and began to climb down the stairs. Sakura's mother grinned and pushed Sakura, nudging her forward. Sakura shuffled toward the bottom of the stairs, looking up at the girl, who stopped half of the way down to stare back at Sakura.

"How come your hair is pink?" Sakura asked.

The girl patted her hair. "I'm a main character," she said.

Sakura inclined her head. "Oh," she said. "Mom and dad want me to be one of those. They tried making me read a lot so I could maybe be a child genius but it didn't work. They said I'm generic."

The girl's nose scrunched. "You're not generic," she said. "You're cute. Want to be friends?"

Sakura looked over at her parents. They were both watching. "Okay," she said. "I'm Sakura Uchi."

The girl nodded. "I'm Mika Otohime. No falling in love with me."

Sakura frowned. "Why would I fall in love with you?"

"It's a common plot line and I don't want romance." Mika tipped her chin higher. "Romance is gross. No promises, either."

"Want me to promise not to promise you anything?" Sakura grinned and, after a moment, Mika did, too. "Is there somewhere we can go play?" she asked next, and Mika climbed down the rest of the steps and led the way down the road. Sakura glanced back at her parents and they waved excitedly. She slowly waved back.

 


End file.
